FANCI Project > Blog > Smart cities need smart cars: In the future, your car will be able to “see” through buildings

Smart cities need smart cars: In the future, your car will be able to “see” through buildings

May, 27 2017

Thanks to V2X technology, connected cars will soon be able to tell you what lies way ahead or around the corner

we do know that wireless connectivity will play a much more important role than it does now, primarily offering passengers an internet connection and GPS navigation.

Today many cars use radar for collision avoidance, and self-driving cars rely on cameras, radars and lidars (highly precise light-based sensors) to navigate their routes. But this small demonstration in Las Vegas showed the power that wireless technology has to provide vehicles with yet another set of “eyes” that can detect objects much further away even if they’re blocked from view. This technology can help drivers and self-driving cars to not only avoid collisions but also send and receive all kinds of data to help smooth the flow of traffic and conserve fuel.

This wireless vehicle-to-everything communication, known in shorthand as V2X, will become more widely adopted as urban developers from Singapore to New York City install more “smart city” transmitters into infrastructure, such as toll booths, street lights and road signs. In the U.S., the Department of Transportation issued an advance rule in December to eventually mandate that all new cars come equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle, or V2V, wireless transmitters as a new standard safety feature to avoid collisions. If the standard is applied, it would speed up the number of cars on the road equipped with the technology that could support V2X.

How does V2X technology work?

There are a lot of sensors being integrated into cars, like cameras and radars. The automotive industry has been looking at using Wi-Fi and cellular radio technology as another sensor. V2X is the use of radio technology in cars for the purposes of active safety. It can communicate with anything around it.

Today’s cars, just like cell phones, have Wi-Fi and cellular radios. But traditionally they have been used to enable connectivity. If you want a hot spot in the car you use the Wi-Fi or the cellular radio. These can also be used for crash-avoidance.

Among the limitations of the camera and radar sensors is that they rely on line of sight. Take for example at an intersection: These camera and radar sensors need to see the car before they can predict the possibility of an accident. But when you use Wi-Fi or cellular radio to communicate between two connected cars from around a corner, for example, they are able to get enough information about each car’s position and route ahead of time to avoid collision.

It sounds like the cars with these transmitters have kind of “X-ray vision”!!!

Horizon 2020 Innovation Framework Programme

The FANCI project is funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 framework programme for research and innovation. Horizon 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness. By coupling research and innovation, Horizon 2020 is helping to achieve this with its emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges.

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